South Africa will temporarily reduce the general fuel levy by R3.00 per litre for both petrol and diesel in April to cushion consumers against soaring oil prices driven by the Iran conflict.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced the measure at the South Africa Investment Conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday, ahead of an official briefing later in the day.
“I will temporarily be lowering the fuel levy for this month of April by R3.00, and then I am still discussing what we can do for the next two months,” Godongwana said.
The decision comes as oil prices have surged almost 50% since the United States and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February, prompting several oil-importing nations including South Korea and the Philippines to take similar action to protect their economies.
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Data from South Africa’s Central Energy Fund indicated that the retail price for 95-octane petrol could jump almost 30% on Wednesday, with wholesale diesel costs expected to rise by more than half, due to the oil price surge and the weakening rand.
The general fuel levy on petrol currently stands at R4.01 per litre and was set to increase to R4.10 on Wednesday. For diesel, the levy is R3.85 and was due to rise to R3.93. The Road Accident Fund levy is set to climb to R2.25 from R2.18.
Even with the R3.00 per litre reduction, South Africans still face substantial fuel price increases. The last published data from the Central Energy Fund projected increases of R6 per litre for petrol and over R10 per litre for diesel. The temporary levy cut is expected to reduce these to R3 per litre for petrol and R7 per litre for diesel.
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The fuel levy raised an estimated R97 billion in the financial year ending on Tuesday, according to the National Treasury.
South Africa previously implemented a temporary fuel levy reduction in 2022 to offset price increases following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Official petrol price adjustments are expected to be announced today,Tuesday, 31 March.
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